December 13, 2013

Hello! I was thinking of some inexpensive and handmade gift ideas and remembered these candles I made last year. They really are a lovely gift and cost next to nothing. You can find these unscented glass candles for around $1 at Dollar General or Dollar Tree stores. --Even some grocery stores cary them. Then simply raid your lace and millinery stash to embellish them.

Wrap different laces around your candles and adhere with a strong adhesive. I used the Ultimate glue, as usual, because it holds everything and works on every surface.

You could also add a bit of vintage millinery, or leave them simply covered in lace. Give them as hostess gifts, party favors, neighbor gifts, or to just about anyone that enjoys a candle. No one would ever know how little they cost you to create!

The other thing I love about these particular candles is that they are unscented. I have had allergies most of my life and the older I get the more they seem to bother me including most scented candles. I have even had to leave shops that had candles burning---but these candles burn nicely and have no scent. :) Perfect for gals like me.

This is the original post I did about these. It also has some other lovely lace covered candles I had found around the web as inspiration. There are probably tons more on pinterest as well.

Are you making handmade gifts this year? What are you making? I would love to hear about them!

December 12, 2013

Hello again! Like I mentioned yesterday, I love to craft during the holiday season, even if it's just for a few minutes at a time. So today I wanted to share this cute, but super simple and fast ornament with you.

All you will need is a glittered snowflake ornament found in just about every store that sells ornaments, a crocheted lace applique, a sweet little image like the one below, some strong adhesive, and glitter glue.

Simply save the image to your computer, print it out on cardstock, and punch a circle.

Glue the lace to the snowflake ornament, and glue the image onto that. Add a bit of glitter glue around the edge of the image, and once dry, hang it on your tree. Easy peasy.

So fast and easy you can have a slew of pretty little ornaments in no time at all. They would also be super cute topping presents or holding places on your holiday table!

April 30, 2013

Hello! I hope your week has started off well! This past weekend, my husband and I were back in Nashville helping our oldest daughter find a new apartment. Her first choice fell through, so we needed to quickly find something else. I personally think she will be much happier with her 2nd choice. :) (which was always my first choice since it's gated...) We'll be moving her in right after Mother's day. It's really an exciting process, renting her first non campus apartment. We've definitely been filling up our pinboards with decorating ideas! I also have my niece and nephew this week, so it seemed like the perfect week for a "rerun" tutorial. And with Mother's day just around the corner, these sweet little paper pockets may be just the thing you're looking for.

So, here we go:

I made these little paper pockets with the idea that they would be a great party favor for a girl's get together. I was thinking they would be great filled with bits of lace and ribbon or other little trinkets. The best thing is that they can be made with scraps and something we all have in our homes. (tissue paper rolls) Now, if using tissue paper rolls seems a little yucky to you, then just cut down some paper towell tubes.

The list of supplies you will need is above, but I left off a permanent black ink pad. For the images, I used my hat club cube stamp, as I love the different female images on the stamp.

1. Using a foam brush, paint your tube. I painted the inside edge as well.

2. Once the paint is dry, add a bit of strong adhesive to the bottom of the tube, and pinch it shut. I used a little bit too much glue as you can see in photo 2, so just wipe a bit off if you need to.

3. Pinch it closed and use a little clamp to keep it closed until it dries.

4. While your tube is drying, tear a bit of fabric scrap and stamp your image onto the fabric.

Once you have your tube painted, glued, and your image stamped, just start adding layers of your vintage lace and fabric. I used a lovely old ruffle along the bottom of all of mine, and then layered on some pretty scraps. I wanted my pockets to be all white, but they would be lovely in a variety of colors.

Embellish your pockets with bits of vintage millinery or buttons.

Once you have embellished your pockets and are happy with them, simply punch a little hole on both sides at the top, thread your large jumprings through and then attach your vintage bead chain to the jumprings. I couldn't really photograph that process, but let me know if you have any questions.

You could also add pretty charms or other buttons to the charms as well.

That's it! These sweet little pockets are ready to fill with treats, or flowers for the ladies in your life on Mother's day, or even to hang on the door of your neighbor for May day! I can imagine these little pockets filled with vintage lace, and vintage millinery. Perhaps some petite rolls of vintage paper tucked inside would be sweet too?

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know, I'm happy to help. And if you make any pockets like this, I would love to see!

April 23, 2013

Hello! I hope your week is off to a great start! Today's tutorial is a bit less of a tutorial and more of some simple tips and such.

One of my favorite things is when the gals in my family get together to craft. It's always a really special time, and I wish we made it happen more often than we do. However, because my Grandma (now 87 years old!) has limited dexterity, and my sister in law is very new to crafting, we will a lot of times use kits. Often I will just put together kits myself, but sometimes, I will grab some simple looking scrapbook or paper crafting kits from the scrapbook store. Of course, then I bring out all the vintage things I can find in my studio that I think will coordinate. I always love to add the vintage elements and mixed media things that I love. So today's projdect started out as a simple scrapbook kit, and I've added paint, sanded papers, added vintage ephemera, and bits of vintage lace, as well as some super cute images.

Unfortunately, I could not find the packaging for the scrapbook items, so I do not remember who made these products, but I can say the scrapbook itself was made simply from kraft card stock with regular copy paper stapled inside for the pages. Super simple, and something you could easily create with materials on hand.

On the cover, I added some blue paint. Note: I almost always use latex paint, you know, regular old house paint. I love buying the sample pots in all sorts of pretty colors, and I find that latex paint dries super fast on paper. I also like the texture of the paint a little better than acrylic paints.

I added some layers of both the scrapbook elements as well as some vintage book paper, a vintage doily, and vintage lace. The gorgeous blue rose element was a scrapbook element that I sanded to make it look older. I loved the little girl image so much, I actually used it twice in my book!

On the inside cover, I simply printed an image I loved and adhered it with a bit of glue and some gold dot washi tape.

This page has the sweet image I shared here on the blog last Friday, some vintage book paper that has been painted over, a very old paper doily, and a scrapbook embellishment.

I sanded the rose down to take away the glossy finish, inked the edges a bit, and stamped some pretty script words. (the words blend more than they show in this photo)

Here's that image again. (this time I printed her much larger and added a vintage lace bow to her dress)

Old book pages, some rub ons, printed images, paint, vintage lace, and a great vintage doily make up these pages.

See that vintage netting with the flowers wrapped around the vellum envelope in this photo? I have had that for years! I think I got it from a Teresa Collins class at CHA several years ago. Ha. Talk about hoarding, right?

For these two pages, the scrapbook paper that came with the kit was a dark brown floral paper. I used a blue paint and painted over most of the page. I added some book pages, painted and inked over those a bit, then added the printed images.

I made the rose/doily embellishment a pocket by simply adhering the bottom and sides to the background pages, but leaving the top open. That allowed me to slide in come little envelops for extra notes.

The background pages here are just printed book pages again covered with paint. I added some washi tape for added texture. I adhered the little girl holding flowers so that she would overlap slightly onto the next page. I added another envelope over part of her image and added some scrapbook embellishments as well as some vintage lace.

And how cute are these two "sitting" on a doily wall?

So, that's it. A fun project to do, plus I loved taking the scrapbook elements and mixing them into all of the vintage stuff I love. I also loved that everyone's book turned out a little different, as they used other materials and had ideas of their own. My sister in law adds photos to hers to make it more of an actual scrapbook. My favorite thing is to watch my Grandma just take off and do her own thing. It's precious.

April 16, 2013

Hello! I am happy to finally have a tutorial to share today, but first I have to say that my heart goes out to not only the lives lost, and the people injured yesterday in Boston, but to all of those affected. All are in my thoughts and prayers.

During the Christmas season, I found a few of these sweet little Napco angels, and since I never did anything with them then, I decided they would become spring fairies instead. When I think about a make believe world where it would be spring all of the time, I think of fairies, flowers, pink mushrooms, glitter, and sparkles. That is exactly what I attempted to capture in this little assemblage.

You can check etsy, ebay, thrift stores, or antique shops for the little angels, and if you can't find any, you could also substitute for a printed image.

You'll want to punch a scalloped circle out of chipboard or sturdy cardstock. Cover those in vintage fabric, and then trim out your scallops. Adhere a circle to both the bottom and top of your vintage spool.

The photos of how I made the garland the fairy is holding did not turn out, but simply take a piece of your pink and white twine, and glue flowers sequins to one side and the little circle sequins to the other side. (I used the Spring Mix sequins )

Once you have created your sequin garland and it has dried, simply glue the garland to your fairies little hands.

Glue your fairy in place. Then cut apart your paper posies and cut the stem from your mushrooms. Add a line of glue around the fairy and the top circle and layer your flowers, mushrooms, and more sequins in a pleasing manner.

To make the banner, I simply created a little banner using picmonkey, printed that on cardstock, and carefully cut it out. To create the "poles", I rubbed glue all over two toothpicks and wrapped them in pink and white twine. Once the banner is dry, add glue to the back of your fairy and glue in place. I added a flower on both sides behind the "poles" to provide extra support.

Tear a strip of vintage fabric and tie a bow on the bottom of your spool. Embellish that with another flower and some flower sequins. Once everything is dry, embellish the whole thing with Stickles glitter glue! I used Diamond and a bit of Gold on the wings.

That's it! A bit tedious with placing of the tiny items, but easy to create.

I was able to put together a few kits for this project, including the vintage fairy and all of the elements used. If you prefer that, you can find those right here.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and please, if you create one, let me know. I would love to see.

February 07, 2013

Hello! A few years ago I created and sold these little fairytale shadowbox kits. They were created using the heart shaped shadowboxes that are currently in the shop.

The shadowboxes each have a little round box in which you can create a scene of any type you wish to, and then insert them into the heart. This particular scene was brought about with the theme of a fairytale happy ending in mind. At the end of this post I'll share the images I used to create the little scene. But you simply size the photos to fit, print them on cardstock.

First, you will want to paint your heart, and cover the front with some sort of paper. I used a flocked wrapping paper on the front of mine, but you could use cardstock, vintage wallpaper, scrapbook paper, or whatever you would like. After your box is dry, you will want to cut out the castle scene and glue into the back of the box.

For the prince and princess, cute them out and leave approximately a .5" flap at the bottom. Fold that down and glue it into the bottom of the box towards the front. This will allow you to have the 3d effect.

Clip some paper roses and posies and glue them into the box as well. Add some extra sparkle using either glass glitter or Stickles. I also embellished the castle a bit with Stickles glitter as well. The glitter just adds to the whole magical feel of a fairytale.

Insert your scene into the heart, with the window in place. (or leave the plastic window out if you prefer)

Then I finished up by adding polka dots of paint to the outside of the heart, and tying a ribbon through the hoop in the top. Super easy, and super cute.

I can imagine all sorts of things you could do with the little shadowboxes! For those of you that have ordered them, I would love to see what you create!

January 15, 2013

Hello! I am sorry to have disappeared on you. Truth is, I have been in a bit of a funk. I just can't seem to get going with my plans and move into 2013. Nothing major going on, my daughter left to go back to college, and watching my younger daughter make choices and mistakes I don't have a lot of control over can be quite challenging at times, but it's just a funk. I'll snap out of it, and get with the program, I always do. So, today, I am going to repost a tutorial from last year. I thought it fitting as Valentine's day is only a month away.

But first, I need to announce the winner of the give away!

The winner is Chelsea Ann!

My family got me a wooden pull toy I had pinned! It was such a wonderful surprise, it made me tear up. I also got a really unique vintage homemade pull toy. I don't know what it is about pull toys but they make me so happy. I think it started with my first chattering fisher price snoopy dog.

Congrats, Chelsea Ann, please send me an email and I will get you the gift certificate you won! I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of your entries, and the wonderful gifts and treasures you received for Christmas. Thank you for sharing them with me!

So, let's get on with the tutorial, gather up our supplies and get started!

December 12, 2012

Hello! Recently I found a bag of vintage, wooden curtain rings and instantly thought they would make wonderful ornaments. So, today I thought I would share with you a little tutorial to make these ornaments. I warn you, they're addicting. I've made them for my Mom, a sweet swap partner, my daughters, and even some to keep! Ha. I still have enough curtain rings to make some kits though!

So, to make this particular ornament, you will need a vintage, wooden curtain ring, some lovely ivory yarn, a printed image, chipboard, a bit of vintage sheet music, and some mica flakes and glitter. You'll also need a bit of vintage millinery and craft store greenery, as well as a strong adhesive. (I used the Ultimate glue, of course. It's my favorite!)

To find vintage curtain rings, search thrift stores, etsy, and maybe even ebay? I don't think they would be too hard to find.

So let's get started!

1. Print and cut out your image. Adhere your image to a bit of chipboard (even a cereal box cut up will work), and then add sheet music to the back. You're kind of making a paper "sandwhich". Not shown in the steps here, but at this point, I added a bit of mica glitter to my image as well. Clip the corners so that it fits the ring.

A note about mica glitter: It is made from mica flakes, and is ground very, very fine. It's not fluffy and white like mica flakes, but actually has a more "aged" appearance. It definitely has sparkle and shine, and is wonderful for working with things you want to look vintage.

2. Cut a large section of yarn and adhere a starting spot on the back of your curtain ring.

3. Begin winding the yarn all the way around as if you were going to make a yarn wreath. Be sure to keep the yarn tight as you wind it around the ring. Finish it off by adhering the yarn in the back with your glue as well.

4. Glue the image in place on the back of the ring.

5. Now all you need to do is embellish with some vintage millinery, a bit of glittered greenery from the craft store, and mica flakes. I simply added a line of glue around the front of the ring and shook on some mica flakes. Shake off the excess. That's really it! Tie another length of yarn through the loop and hang it on your tree. (Or tie to a package!)

Here is the sweet image I used for the ornament. Just save it to your computer and print out to size of your ring.

This is a variation on the ornament above. For this one, I just used a nice dark wooden curtain ring and did not wrap in yarn. I added my mica and embellishments directly to the ring. You might like this if you enjoy a more "woodland" decor or more natural elements.

I told you, I couldn't stop making them! Here I added a sweet gold, glittered bow and a bit of vintage millinery at the top.

For this ornament, I altered my image using picmonkey to add a swirly wreath around the image and the words "Merry Christmas".

For this ornament, I decided to paint the ring. I painted it with two coats of a lovely ivory paint, then washed it with a bit of taupe paint, (and rubbed off the execess). I also did a wash with gold paint as well.

I then added my mica flakes, a bit of vintage, ruffled petticoat, some vintage pink tipped stamens, and a sweet vintage, velvet flower. -This one might be my favorite. :)

Here they all are together. I think I may go make some more. :)

I did put together some kits to make these. Each kit contains a wonderful assortment of materials to make 4 different ornaments. The kits contain the vintage curtain rings, yarn, various images, bits of vintage millinery, mica flakes, mica glitter, little gold bows, and even a bit of ruffles. They can be purchased right here!

We're shipping every day, so no worries about getting them on time, there is still plenty of time!

November 27, 2012

Hello! Finally, I'm ready with today's tutorial. We're switching gears this week and working a bit more kitschy. The products I used in this tutorial are mostly vintage, and I would check places like ebay, etsy, thrift stores, and estate sales to find yourself some of the vintage elements. Or, if you're like me, you have them in your stash. Ha. Sometimes I wonder if I should call the show "Hoarders"?

Anyway, what we're working with here is a vintage milk cap. I've had these for quite some time and unfortunately do not remember where I bought them, and even if I did, I'm not sure they would have them anymore. I know Jenni Bowlin often has vintage milk caps, and when doing a search on etsy I found 287 listings. Of course, we have some in stock right now too, but they're too small for this project.

6. Then I simply adhered my little doll bundle and my tag to the milk cap.

7. Embellish the whole thing with Stickles glitter glue.

8. And that's it! Now, if you wanted this to be an ornament, you could poke a small hole in the top and thread through some twine to make a loop and bow. You could glue a magnet to the back and put it on your fridge, or advent board. You could also glue a pin back to the back and turn it into a whimsical little brooch. Or, you could make it a special topper for a package.

Here's a couple of variations I made of this same project using other vintage parts I had in my stash.

The very best part about making these little ornaments? I made them while crafting with my daughter. We were able to get in TWO small crafting sessions while she was home from college for Thanksgiving. Nothing is more precious to me than spending time with the girls in my life and crafting.

I was able to put together a few kits for the doll head version of this ornament, and they're available right here. The kits contain everything you need except the Stickles and Ultimate glue. I even stamped and punched the tags for you. (patterned paper varies, but is all sweetly vintage inspired) I think these kits would make darling stocking stuffers.

Sorry for being so late this evening. If you make something similar, will you show me? I know we would love to see!

November 13, 2012

Hello! I am so excited to kick off our Little Pink Studio holidays! Today I want to share with you an easy project that is sure to become a keepsake. If you're a long time reader of my blog, you may recognize this as a kit I offered about 4 years ago.

Let's get started, shall we?

(while I'm not making this a kit this year, the kraft houses, glass glitter, Ultimate Glue, and paper roses will all be available in the shop at the end of the week.)

So, first you'll need to choose a background image. Here's a couple of different ones you may like.

Just double click any of the images, and save to your computer. Then reduce the size and print onto cardstock.

The kraft house ornament opens from the back and there is a plastic "window" and a round kraft piece. Set the window aside, we're going to build our scene inside the round piece.

I first painted the whole piece a pale pink. Then printed my image, cut out the house and tree next to it and glued those to the back of my "box".

Cut apart your paper flowers and cover them with any clear drying glue, and completely cover them with glass glitter. The glass glitter gives the whole scene that frosty, enchanted feel.

I also covered my house and tiny deer in glass glitter. Now about the deer, my little deer were vintage and I found them a long time ago. I looked this year and could not find any, but you might check etsy if your heart is set on a deer. However, you could use anything here, a sweet little bisque doll, another woodland creature, or I saw some sweet little snowmen ornaments at Target that would work as well.

Using either The Ultimate glue or hot glue, adhere your paper flowers and deer to the bottom of the "box".

Set this aside to dry.

Now, to work on the house. I first painted the sides and back of the house in pale pink. I then covered the entire front of the house in flocked wallpaper. (I found my wallpaper on etsy from this lovely seller, but it does not appear she has any items for sale right now. You can check etsy for other sellers of flocked wallpaper, or check Target and Walmart for flocked wrapping paper, it works just as well. ) You'll want to use a strong adhesive when applying the wallpaper to your house. Cut a hole in the middle of the house and fold a bit of the wallpaper over to the inside and glue in place.

For the top of the house, I painted some book paper pink, cut some strips to make a roof line with scalloped scissors, and then glass glittered them. Glue those to the top of your house in the front.

Make a tiny wreath using either a bit of tinsel or a silver pipe cleaner found at any craft store in the holiday department. I added a couple more glittered flowers to the front as well.

Open the back of your house and reinsert the plastic window if you prefer...I usually prefer them w/out the window but that is totally up to you. Behind the window insert the round scene you have created and close the back of the house.

Tie a bit of ribbon to the top of your ornament and hang on your tree.

(with the window inserted)

The houses measure about 6", and they easily stand on their own, so they could also be used as an addition to a holiday vignette if you prefer.

The possibilities are endless, and I can't wait to see if you create anything like this!

Again, the houses will be in the shop with our holiday update at the end of the week.

Tomorrow, I'll be back to share with you the schedule for our LPS holiday event!